The UFC is coming to The White House.
President Trump, speaking at an event in Iowa Friday night, said that he was hoping to host an event from the mixed martial arts promotion on the grounds of the White House, as part of the plans to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary.
A spokesperson for the UFC confirmed the plan to The Hollywood Reporter, with UFC CEO Dana White expected to reveal more on the event soon.
“All of our national park battlefields and historic sites are going to have special events in honor of America 250 and I even think we’re going to have a UFC fight,” Trump told the crowd. “Does anybody watch UFC the great Dana White? We’re going to have a UFC fight, think of this, on the grounds of the White House. We have a lot of land there.”
He added that it will be “a championship fight, full fight, like 20, 25,000 people.”
It isn’t clear where on the grounds the fight will take place, or what type of structure will be built to host it. The UFC has held multiple events in Washington D.C. at the Capitol One Arena in the past.
Trump, of course, is close to White, who was a vocal and early supporter. The President has also been a frequent guest at UFC fights, including after taking office this year. UFC is part of TKO Group Holdings, which is led by Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro, and controlled by Endeavor, the company that also owns the (now-private) talent agency WME.
White is also no stranger to spectacle, turning his fights into cultural events where the location is as much a part of the story as the bouts. During the hight of the COVID pandemic the UFC created what it called “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi where it could safely hold events, and last year it took over the Sphere in Las Vegas, with White telling THR at the time that the company spent north of $20 million to produce the event.
“If you take what U2 did and multiply it by a million, that’s where we are,” he said.
Still, the grounds of the White House would mark set a new bar for an event location, one that is unlikely to be replicated by any other sporting venture anytime soon.
White also recently joined the board of directors of Meta, invited by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has become a fan of MMA.
Trump also announced another event as part of the America 250 celebration, a “nationally televised” competition called the “Patriot Games” that will pit youth athletes from all 50 states against each other. Trump said that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will lead the Patriot Games, though he did not reveal any more details, including which platforms the games will air.